December 1st flood

The Times Herald-Record has a pitch-perfect news story about a women who was evacuated from her home next to the fast-rising Neversink River during Wednesday's flood. Turns out, Donna Dunnett thinks the whole fuss was unnecessary:

Still, Dunnett insisted she didn't want to be rescued. "They said it was a dramatic rescue but the drama was mostly me being cold and wet and waiting outside while I could have been inside my warm house watching TV with my dogs." Dunnett shares her home with two Australian shepherds named Awesome and Samson.

For the floods this week, Edlinger's picked something a little more Catskillian -- the honky-tonk stylings of Whitey Morgan and the 78s. Here's a link to his video, starring the Yoo-Hoo-esque Esopus and featuring cameos by several local first responders.

...ICY CONDITIONS LIKELY ON UNTREATED SURFACES... TEMPERATURES WILL FALL TO BETWEEN 29 AND 32 DEGREES BETWEEN 6 PM AND 8 PM. THIS WILL CAUSE ICING TO OCCUR ON UNTREATED SURFACES. BE ESPECIALLY CAUTIOUS THIS EVENING...AS SURFACES CAN BECOME SLICK VERY QUICKLY WHEN TEMPERATURES ARE FALLING FAST.

Water in the Schoharie Creek hit 14.8 feet this afternoon, according to the National Weather Service's hydrograph. Main St. and Rte. 23 flood when the river hits 14 feet, according to NWS records. The National Weather Service issued an alert:

THE FLOOD WARNING CONTINUES FOR THE SCHOHARIE CREEK AT PRATTSVILLE * UNTIL LATE TONIGHT. * AT 4 PM WEDNESDAY THE STAGE WAS...13.5 FEET. * FLOOD STAGE IS 12 FEET. * MINOR FLOODING IS OCCURRING AND MODERATE FLOODING IS FORECAST. * FORECAST...THE RIVER IS FORECAST TO CONTINUE RISING TO NEAR 15 FEET BY 7 PM WEDNESDAY. THE RIVER IS FORECAST TO FALL BELOW FLOOD STAGE AFTER 10 PM WEDNESDAY. * IMPACT...AT 16 FEET...OVERFLOWS ONTO COUNTY ROUTE 7 NORTH OF ROUTE 23.

Above: Main Street, Phoenicia around 6pm, December 1. Photo by Aaron Bennett.

11:15pm update: Menla Mountain's John Lundin took some great photos this afternoon of flooding at the retreat center. Below: A normally-placid dam spillway rages. (Posted with permission from Lundin's Facebook album.)

8pm update: The intrepid Aaron Bennett has sent us some photos of the scene in Phoenicia at 6pm, where Main Street flooded earlier today. From Aaron: Read more

The usual flooding suspects are at it again today as four inches of rain has pummeled the Catskills. Phoenicia is flooded and the town of Shandaken has declared a state of emergency, and the West Branch of the Delaware is expected to flood tonight in Walton. Both towns were hit hard in the flooding two months ago -- both will likely have another cleanup on their hands. Here's the NWS hydrograph for Walton: